Best Handheld Console of All-Time

[mikeszekely]

In the interest of protecting you guys, the consumers... I reprint my post from another forum about the N-Gage...

Now, as I was saying... don't waste your money on the N-Gage. The concept was great on paper, but console sucks. It's cheaper to buy a nice cell phone and a GBA SP. Oh, you wanted it for the mp3 playback, too? Since it'll cost you another $100 for 128MB N-Gage memory card to save your mp3s too, just buy a seperate mp3 player, anyway. You'll probably spend less money and end up with a better phone, mp3 player, and game console.

It wouldn't be fair of me to make these arguements without explaining, would it? So...

Why is another cell phone better?

To use the N-Gage as a cellphone, you hold the top part of the console (where the shoulder buttons would be on the old GBA) to your ear, with the screen down. Not only will you look so lame that Ralph Wiggum would beat you up, but you're going to end up with thumbprints all over the screen. Finally, the official carrier for N-Gage is TMobile. Don't like TMobile? I heard AT&T will also provide service for N-Gage. Sprint? Maybe. Verizon? Nope. Bottom line, you can get a cheaper phone with better features and have more plans to choose from if you just buy a seperate phone.

Why is it better to buy a seperate mp3 player?

N-Gage uses proprietary memory cards. That is, memory cards that only work for N-Gage, about $70 for a 64MB and $100 for $128. Now, depending on how much memory it comes with, you can get mp3 players for under $100. Yeah, there are some more expensive ones, but those are the ones that count their memory in GBs. Also, they tend to use common memory cards like Compact Flash (which is like half of what it'd cost for N-Gage card) for their memory upgrades. And BTW, since the N-Gage memory card goes where the game card goes, you can't listen to an mp3 while you play a game.

Why is the GBA better than the N-Gage?

While the GBA may be sticking to 2D, those 2D graphics look good, and a lot of the games play like (or even are) classic SNES games. As for the N-Gage, PS2 graphics? Not even close. PSone graphics? Closer, but trust me, games still looked better on the PSone. The graphics are blurry, with choppy framerates. Control on the N-Gage sucks. The demo game we had to play was Tomb Raider, and while Lara was always a ###### to control, the N-Gage version is so bad that it's unplayable. The vertical screen makes almost no sense. Oh, and to change games (or swap out games for your card with mp3s), you have to remove the back cover, pop out the battery, get the card out, put another card in, put the battery back in, and put the cover back on. Oh, and since the game cards are about the size of a quarter, definately expect to lose some. To play the game, you have to have to go through several complicated menus. For ease of use, N-Gage definately gets an F-.

Oh, and what about those games? Well, as I said, for the 3D games, they looked and played better on the PSone. For the 2D games, like Sonic N, well, most of them are ports from GBA games. Except that they looked and played better on the GBA.

Bluetooth support for multiplayer was a great idea... except that the changes of two humans anywhere near each other who actually bought this turd AND copies of the same crappy game are so slim as to be impossible.

In conclusion, if you want a great portable gaming platform, get a GBA instead. If you were looking for a cool device that included many different functions, you're better off buying the devices seperate, or at least waiting for Tapwave's Zodiac (game machine + mp3 player + Palm Pilot, compatible with all current Palm Pilot applications and with two hot swappable secure digital slots). If you want 3D, PSone-ish looking portable gaming, wait for the Sony PSP or the Tapwave Zodiac. And if for some really sick reason you still want an N-Gage, do yourself a favor and wait a few months until they're on clearance.

[Aegis!]

Yeah , the N-Gage will pretty much suck.

I'm keeping my GBA whatever advanced handheld is released in the coming years , just for the sake of playing good quality 2D games , but I'll certainly wait to see what Sony comes up with for the PSP which sounds interesting , not that I'll buy one just because it's Sony (in the contrary , I'd much rahter avoid Sony stuff ) as I'll also wait for Nintendo's next Handheld , but so far the PSP has more potential for good games , I just hope they design a good control layout for the PSP...It would be nice to play Macross Plus: Game edition on a handheld system and it also has the advantage that I'd be able to connect my MD to it ...nice

The only bad issue with Nintendo handhelds is the ammount of kiddy games that are released for their systems (yeah I know there're a lot more good games out there ) , not that it makes a difference in my playing experience but it surely makes a difference in the way people percieve handhelds consoles , so if Sony enters the market I hope they at least achieve to change Nintendo's (or developers) perspective of their consumer market.

Edited October 8, 2003 by Aegis!

[UN Spacy]

I voted for the GBA......it was the only handheld I've ever owned. It's too bad that I sold it to get NBA Street Volume 2.

I can't wait for the PSP. B)

[Yoshi]

Bandai Wonderswan !

This system has quantity of great games, especially in the RPG/Strategy field: the Final Fantasy, Gundam, Super Robot Taisen, SD G Generation series... I'm still enjoying this system and its games, I'm currently replaying Monoeyes Gundam to get the missing events (got 61 out of 63 so far ).

I really like the Wonderswan, too bad it got killed by the GBA. Now we're stuck with a hand held monopoly

Hey Yoshi, have you played Giren's Greed yet for the Wonderswan? I loved the original game for Saturn/PS1/DC/PS2 but the WS game looks pretty different, and I haven't been able to find any comments about it.

Well, I didn't get this one. Being a fan of the original games, I was very happy to see it released on WSC. Then I saw you can only play as Garma and Ma Kube. It was a big disappointement so I decided to pass on this game. I would have bought it without a second guess if only it featured Revil and Giren routes, or Federation character routes. But Garma and Ma Kube, no thank you (I'm a shameless Feddie).

[GreatMoose]

TI-85. Oh YEAH!

[Isamu Atreides 86]

TI-85. Oh YEAH!

funny. i got busted so many times in HS for playing games on my TI-83

[Abombz!!]

TI-85.  Oh YEAH! 

funny. i got busted so many times in HS for playing games on my TI-83

My TI-86 kept me awake during trig class in HS.

[mikeszekely]

TI-85.  Oh YEAH! 

funny. i got busted so many times in HS for playing games on my TI-83

My TI-86 kept me awake during trig class in HS.

Damn! I was lucky even to have a calculator that could add...

And Trig... did I even take that? Funny, I don't remember. I was more of a history, language, and poli-sci student than math or chemistry.

[Isamu Atreides 86]

TI-85.  Oh YEAH! 

funny. i got busted so many times in HS for playing games on my TI-83

My TI-86 kept me awake during trig class in HS.

Damn! I was lucky even to have a calculator that could add...

And Trig... did I even take that? Funny, I don't remember. I was more of a history, language, and poli-sci student than math or chemistry.

me too. i sucked at math, but my damned HS made me take all those crappy Chemistry, Physics and Trig/ Analytic Geometry classes.... <_<

[Abombz!!]

TI-85.  Oh YEAH! 

funny. i got busted so many times in HS for playing games on my TI-83

My TI-86 kept me awake during trig class in HS.

Damn! I was lucky even to have a calculator that could add...

And Trig... did I even take that? Funny, I don't remember. I was more of a history, language, and poli-sci student than math or chemistry.

me too. i sucked at math, but my damned HS made me take all those crappy Chemistry, Physics and Trig/ Analytic Geometry classes....

Meh... I took trig in my sophmore year. It was a damn annoying class. For some reason the teach felt the need to do everything in calculator. Coming from a country that almost outlawed the use of calculators in school.... everything was fairly new to me. Thanks god I could do everything on paper and in my head, without the need of a dumb calculator.

Not only that... but the teacher didn't know how to program a TI 86, and most programs were uncompatible with the TI86... so I was pretty much screwed. <_<

[Gaijin]

I loved my Lynx, Nomad, and yes even the Game Gear...for it's time it was cool.

The GBA SP is the current fave of course, but for all time I'd have to say...I really can't make up my mind.

[mikeszekely]

TI-85.  Oh YEAH! 

funny. i got busted so many times in HS for playing games on my TI-83

My TI-86 kept me awake during trig class in HS.

Damn! I was lucky even to have a calculator that could add...

And Trig... did I even take that? Funny, I don't remember. I was more of a history, language, and poli-sci student than math or chemistry.

me too. i sucked at math, but my damned HS made me take all those crappy Chemistry, Physics and Trig/ Analytic Geometry classes....

Oh, wait, I did take trig, in my 11th grade year! I remember now! It was a Chicago math course... for those of you unfamiliar with that it means that the grading scale was slightly different so that each letter grade was 12%... like 88% was still an A, and 76% of was still a B... and to get an F you actually had to be lower than 50%. Now, that was combined with an agreement the teacher had with the class... do all your homework for a grading period, get an 8% bonus. Not points, %. I did my homework by copying the odd answers out of the back of the book, and then writing "?" or "SEE GRAPH" for the evens, as if I didn't understand or worked the problem out on a piece of non-existant graph paper. With the funny grading scale and the bonus, I had a B in that class... which meant that I probably earned a D...

[mikeszekely]

I voted other. I'm having really high hopes for the Nokia N-Gage. From everything that I've read on it, this thing is gonna rock!!!! Pretty soon..... ah yes..... time to save pennies.

I wonder... did you ever buy the N-Gage or not, VF-17?

[bigkid24]

Since we are talking of all time, it has to be the GBA but I still play my Neo Geo Color Pocket more often. Gotta love SNK vs Capcom, Match of the Millenium.

[VF-17]

I was looking at it. I got to mess with one for a little bit. Played some Tomb Raider. I didn't notice anything really bad about it. The graphics weren't the sharpest in the world, but nothing really bad. But, I was just shown a news article about some Nokia batteries exploding on people, so, maybe not.